Central vacuum cleaning systems are well known and have been available for many years. One early design is 15 U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,363 issued in 1972 disclosing a central vacuum cleaning system using a retractable hose. The inserted end of the hose has a compressible annular seal. The hose is pulled out of the suction conduit located in a wall or floor until the foot end or inserted end reaches the receptacle mounted on the floor or wall, at which time the annular seal on the hose engages a corresponding annular abutment at the receptacle to hold the hose in position and seal between the hose and the receptacle. Accordingly, this design requires that the full length of the hose be pulled out prior to the user using the vacuum.
In 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,596 issued disclosing a wall outlet box for a control vacuum system that connects to a vacuum hose. The '596 design does not provide any hose storage, or retractable hose features.
In 1990, U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,528 issued disclosing a hose-to-wall fitting for a central vacuum system. Like the earlier '596 reference, the features of the '528 patent were directed to a hose connection fitting only.
Later, in 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,842 issued to Christensen disclosing a motorized hose wind-up mechanism that requires a somewhat complicated and expensive mechanism for the operation thereof.
While most of the above noted central vacuum system designs include features that are useful in the task to perform the debris vacuum removal process, they typically do not provide a simple, quick way of deploying a long vacuum hose to a selected length. In addition, these designs do not address the problems associated with convenient storage of such long hoses.
Accordingly, a need remains for a central vacuum cleaning system that is easy to install, and facilitates ease of deployment of the vacuum hose therein, and ease of storage of the same following the use of a long vacuum hose to quickly clean large areas.
There is a recognized problem in the central vacuum cleaning industry with vacuum hose management. Typical vacuum hoses are 10 to 50 feet long; difficult to coil up, unwieldy to carry from room to room and bulky to store. Such central vacuum cleaning systems having retractable suction hoses and hose-retracting valve assemblies, that use vacuum suction to retract the hoses back into the system type vacuum plumbing, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,829 B2 issued to Harman in 2006, provide a solution to this problem but heretofore have never been provided with the means to provide an electrical grounding path from the vacuum hose receptacle to the operator end of a hose equipped with a industry standard grounding conductor.
Furthermore such central vacuum cleaning systems having retractable suction hoses and hose-retracting valve assemblies, that use vacuum suction to retract the hoses back into the system type vacuum plumbing, heretofore have never been provided with the means to provide electrical current along the hose to conventional tools attached to the end of the hose through various types of handles, extensions and fittings.
Furthermore such central vacuum cleaning systems having retractable suction hoses and hose-retracting valve assemblies, that use vacuum suction to retract the hoses back into the system type vacuum plumbing, heretofore have never provided a sharp angle debris trap in the air stream adjacent to the vacuum valve to stop such items as pens, pencils and screw drivers from entering the system.
Furthermore such central vacuum cleaning systems having retractable suction hoses and hose-retracting valve assemblies, that use vacuum suction to retract the hoses back into the system, and whose vacuum plumbing relies on traveling hose end seals or circumferential hose clamps and seals to prevent vacuum leakage and in the latter case to restrain hose movement while using the system. While both of these approaches provide use of the hose at any length extended they leak vacuum suction and their components are subject to wear and fatigue resulting in increased vacuum leakage and eventual failure.
Briefly stated, this improved vacuum system has been achieved by using a dual port vacuum valve which allows the hose to be removed from the system tubing through a hose retraction port on the vacuum valve and the hose end fitting inserted into a vacuum inlet port on the vacuum valve which provides vacuum and electrical connections. The sharp, tight angle between the vacuum valve inlet and connection ports forms a debris trap. The moving hose end seal and circumferential hose clamp and seal described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,829 have been eliminated reducing the number of moving components thus improving reliability of the system and minimizing vacuum leakage.